3. The CGI-characters-in-a-live-action-setting thing worked well enough for Scooby-Doo (2002-2004), Garfield (2004-2006) and especially Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007) — in box-office terms, that is — so now it’s Tom and Jerry’s turn to step before the cameras. — Variety

4. John August is writing the screenplay for Preacher, based on the comic-book series by Garth Ennis. After that, he’ll tackle Frankenweenie for Tim Burton, with whom he frequently collaborates. — Variety, Hollywood Reporter, John August

5.Watchmen, like many comic books written by Alan Moore, has a rape scene, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who plays one of the “heroes” in the film version of that graphic novel, says the scene in question took three days to shoot. Meanwhile, a vintage news broadcast about Dr. Manhattan, circa 1970, has surfaced on the internet. — MTV Splash Page, YouTube

6. J.K. Simmons, who plays newspaper editor J. Jonah Jameson in the Spider-Man movies, says the next installment in the franchise will begin filming in 2010 for a May 2011 release. — MTV Splash Page

7. Dominic Monaghan, who played the hobbit Merry in The Lord of the Rings (2001-2003), says “there’s a really strong chance that we might be back” in the upcoming prequels, even though Merry and various other characters do not appear in the book version of The Hobbit. — MTV Movie News

8. Dakota Fanning, who turns 15 next month, could be in the running for a part in New Moon, the sequel to Twilight, as an Italian vampire. — Mark Malkin

Disney’s dumping of the Narnia franchise puzzles me. Granted that Prince Caspian did not do as well as The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, it still raked in over $500 million if you include DVD sales. It cost $200 million to make. Is the studio really sneering at a profit of $300 million? This just doesn’t make any sense to me.

According to Goldstein, the movie cost $225 million to produce and another $175 million to promote — so that’s a total cost of $400 million. On top of that, theatres can keep anywhere up to half of the box-office revenue, depending on their deal with the studio, so the film would arguably have to have grossed as much as $800 million worldwide just to break even. Certainly there would be no profit if the film grossed only $500 million.